Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun tipped to become possible French player of the year

ARSENAL loanee Folarin Balogun has been named as one of the possible five contenders for the French Player of the Year after getting his season-long loan with Stade de Reims off to a flying start.

Balogun, 21,  is a Hale End Academy graduate of Nigerian descent, born in New York City, making him eligible to represent the US as well as England and Nigeria. Having tied him down at the Emirates Stadium for the foreseeable future, Arsenal sent Balogun out on loan to Reims for the duration of the 2022/23 season to enable him get playing time.

Since moving to France, Balogun has flourished, scoring against all the teams he has faced with the exception of Lyon,  taking his tally to five goals in six appearances. Reims have been following the progress of Balogun since 2019 and offered him his first professional contract but the striker decided to commit his future to the Gunners.

In June this year, England manager Gareth Southgate invited Balogun to train with the Three Lions senior squad as part of a long term plan to tie him down. Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) officials are believed to have been keeping an eye on him and it appears that to forestall any bid from them, Mr Southgate invited him to camp, hoping to get him to commit to England at the senior level.

 French newspaper Ouest France, has selected five players who have had a fine start to the 2022/23 season, who it believes should be watched during this campaign. Apart from Balogun, the others are along with Vitinha (Paris SG), Lois Openda (RC Lens), Dango Ouattara (FC Lorient) and Nuno Tavares (Olympique de Marseille).

 Balogun was recently named the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Month for August following his remarkable goalscoring form. Only Paris Saint Germain superstars Neymar (8) and Kylian Mbappé (7) have scored more goals than Balogun (5) in Ligue 1 so far this season.

Ouest France wrote : "In Reims, the summer hit has a strong English accent. On loan from Arsenal, Folarin Balogun has already established himself as a centerpiece of Oscar Garcia's eleven. If the start of the season for the Rémois is not flamboyant, Balogun is walking on water."